WELL HELLO THERE BOYS AND GIRLS. Did you think we weren't having a Soap Opera Weekend this year? Didya? Cuz guess what?

December 5-6 is Soap Opera Weekend. So there.

For those of you who weren't around last year. Soap Opera weekend is exactly what it sounds like. Much like AU weekend and such, for a weekend, the denizens of Fandom go through some changes... Namely, while your characters are still themselves, they behave like characters on a soap opera and think this is totally normal. Jaina Solo will still know herself as Jaina Solo, she just may be the heiress to the Skywalker diamond mine fortune who goes around stealing her double's identity and escaping ruined weddings on horseback after catfights in the pond. (Also for those of you who weren't here last year, THIS TOTALLY HAPPENED. SOW is crack.) Monday morning, everyone will wake up themselves, and probably wtf a lot.

This plot will be open to all characters on island, including alumni. Yes, alumni, there will be an opportunity to be around for this, and there'll be more details on that as the date nears. We didn't forget you!

( and now i c&p the rules! )


That's the basics. I'm also throwing down a comment below for brainstorming, should anyone have something they WANT to see that weekend that they don't automatically claim for themselves, or you want to find someone to be your new husband/wife/suspected babyparent/evil twin/supposedly-dead parent/Kelly to your Brenda.

Monthly brainstorming post time! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

First the OCD... which is up! Have at it.

If you have questions or want more information, please read this post.

Comments here are screened.

<b>Player Name:</b> <b>Player Email:</b> <b>Guest Character:</b> <b>Guest Journal:</b> <b>Guest Fandom:</b> <b>School Represented:</b> <b>If characters from this fandom are in game, have you received permission from those players?:</b>

Signups close on Monday November 16 at Noon EST!

In an effort to help guide the students of Fandom to plan for their futures, Sweets has organized a college fair for next Tuesday (November 17). It will be held in the gym, much like the club fairs and the multicultural fairs, with tables/booths set up for the different colleges.

What colleges will these be? Well, that's up to all of you! Any fictional college or real college with a fictional representation is fair game. Like Rock Con or Cop Con, this is a chance for players to bring in a one shot guest star, though this will only be for one day.

Here are some lists to give you ideas of what sort of schools would be eligible: Fictional Colleges/Universities, Fictional Military Academies, and Fictional Vocational/Trade Schools.

The characters do not necessarily need to be the administrative characters - students, teachers, really anyone who is in some way affiliated with the school can attend and try to recruit Fandom students to their institution.

As with anything, please be respectful of your fellow players. If you want to bring in someone from Starfleet Command or the Jedi Academy or Hearst College, check with the other players in those fandoms first. Alumni characters who are currently attending school are also welcome to set up a table to pimp out their schools.

Any questions go in this post. Signups go in this post!

What: FOOD. Ahem. A benefit or Taste of Fandom or whatever you want to call it, with various Fandom businesses signing up to help raise funds for repairs and renovations to the Boards playhouse by selling foooooood.

When: Saturday, November 14.

Where: the Park, all day. A post will go up early, which businesses can sign into their threads.

Who: You! Hopefully. Please sign up below if your PC business or restaurant would like to donate proceeds from food and have a booth at the Benefit, or if your character wants a booth to help show off your culinary skills, and needs to be contacted in some way by Sophie. She'll be putting up posters Monday night, with her contact info, so anyone else who wants to contact her IC can. If you want to participate but don't have time for an IC contact, just sign up in that thread below.

How: Students, townies, and teachers will be able to buy tickets to trade in for food at the booths on Saturday, and profits go to the Playhouse. Sophie will be requesting that those cast members who wish to can sell tickets early, or they can be bought and exchanged for food at the benefit.

Massive apologies for being failboat on this last month, guys. You can . . . throw things at me, or something. Just nothing with peanuts in it; I'm allergic. ;)

So you know how this goes -- any ideas you wanna brainstorm, toss 'em in the appropriate (or most appropriate) sections below! The OCD's up and good to go. You're safe from gum-spitting.

Hey, guys!

For everybody's convenience in plotting, we try to keep a running list of the various abilities possessed by FH characters. If you ever find yourself saying, "Hey, I need a magic user/archer/person who can whistle Dixie while eating crackers and covering one eye," that list of powers is meant to be there for you to take a look at.

It's been a while since we did this, but we've made some changes we hope you'll like, in the interim:

• All of the previous posts have been compiled into a spreadsheet that you can always head over to check (it'll be linked on the FH community info page)
  
  
• From now on, we only need people to fill this out for new characters, or if you have an update or correction for your older ones. If your stuff is listed over on the spreadsheet, don't worry about this!
  
  
• We've streamlined the categories a bit to focus on "what can you do" instead of worrying about whether that's a magic or mutant or inherent ability. So the wacky powers are now just broken into spellcasting, psionic powers, and superhuman physical attributes. (Thanks to puppy_fair for that suggestion.)
  
  

Anything that is a canon power or ability of your character (including those developed at FH) and could be used in a plot in some way, please list below in the correct thread. This is for all character types - students/alumni, teachers and townies - and covers everything, not just the wacky powers. We also appreciate yer fighting, research, weapons, support skills and Dixie whistling, baby.

Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to do this!

[Wait for the OCD or every radio broadcast from now until December will contain a hidden rick-roll. OCD up! Have at it!]

On Wednesday September 9th, Joan and Turtle will be hosting another Multicultural Fair for the denizens of Fandom!

(and here is where I plagiarize myself)

The idea is to have a fair, much like the club fairs, where people can have a table set up to introduce everyone else to their culture. There can be activities, food, authentic costumes... anything native to an individual's culture. Obviously people from the same culture could work together and set up a booth.

Basically it's a chance for people to learn about each other and the different worlds they come from.

So, if your character would be interested in sharing information about their homeworld with everyone else, please sign up below! And if it's OOC for your character to do something like that, but you want them to? Let us know and we can surely work something out.

If you wanna see how it worked last time, here is a handy dandy link!

Okay! Below the cut you will find a list of the matches for the first round of carkeys. Everyone has two matches: the list is alphabetical by character first name and each character should appear on both lists. Feel free to use this post to discuss options for where to get your interaction in, though I will point out that there is a cheerleader bbq on Wednesday that could work nicely. Also work posts or Caritas are a good option!

I tried very hard to make sure no one got matched up with people they know, but I obviously have no way of tracking who everyone knows, so... I apologize if you did get matched with someone your character has already met. Hopefully by giving everyone two options, you will get at least one new character interaction!

Um... I'll stop babbling now. If you have any questions or concerns or anything, feel free to talk to me either on AIM or via email!

( long list is looooong )

The idea of pinging new people can be scary, so the admins have given me permission to run a round of carkeys and see if that helps folks make new in character connections.

What is Carkeys?

It's a game of sorts named after the practice in the 70s of people attending a party and tossing their car keys into a bowl. At the end of the night, people would grab a set of keys and that's who they would go home with.

We're not doing that here, obviously :D

Instead, if you want to play, you'll sign up the characters you want tossed in the mix and then I'll mix and match characters into pairs. The goal is for the players to figure out a way to get those characters to interact in game.

Okay, I wanna play!

Comment here with the names of any characters you want to include by Monday at 6am EDT. I'll put the list together and post it sometime on Monday so those who want to play will have something interesting to do over the break week!

It's completely voluntary and I'll do my best to match up characters who haven't met. Let me know if you have any questions!

All AU kid applications that have been received are approved!

Watch fh_trips for the Disneyland posts starting tomorrow.

Any questions? Ask here or catch me on AIM.

Time for the monthly brainstorming post, wooo!!!

OCD is coming up!

Not dirty.

This coming Saturday is the Alumni/Ex-Pat Disneyland trip with bonus AU kids! All kid apps must be submitted by midnight PST on Thursday August 20th so we have Friday to review them!

Information about the event is here and the sign-up form is here.

Alumni/Ex-Pats are welcome to attend without having AU kids, of course! The trip will be posted in fh_trips.

Any questions may be asked here!

Last call for 3MD signups! More boys and/or girls who like girls would be greatly appreciated.

Even though I'm taking the moment to beg for a specific group, I do have to say that the turnout so far is AMAZING and the OCD tomorrow may kill me. But it'll be a happy OCD death. Thank you all so much!

Hello again potential serial daters! This is a reminder that signups for this Saturday's edition of Three Minute Dates are open through the end of Thursday. It looks like we have a really good batch this time, but the students are heavily unbalanced in favor of people who like boys. So if you have a boy who likes girls (or a girl who likes girls) and some free time this Saturday, please think about signing up. I have virtual cookies for anyone who helps out my OCD!

Thanks!

It's been six months since the last Three Minute Dates event, so let's go ahead and do it again! Next Saturday, August 15th the semi-annual dating spree returns!

For those who either are unfamiliar with the way 3MD goes or just need a refresher, you sign up in this post and then get paired with five potential love connections. The matched characters chat each other up for three minutes (that's approximately 10 comments, five for each person, give or take a couple if you need to wrap things up) and at the end of the night you'll have a chance to meet up to discuss their future together, maybe when the wedding will be, perhaps even what you'll name the kids. Okay, it probably won't go that far, but you never know!

Adults and students are both welcome to sign up, although teachers and students will not be paired together. Students and townies may be, but only in the case of really unbalanced lineups. A strong effort will be made to match people based on their sexual preference, but I can't make any promises beyond "I'll try to make it work."

So, if you're interested, please leave a comment to this post with your character's name and sexual preference. Comments shall be screened unless somebody has a question. Those will be unscreened as I answer them. Signups will be open until Thursday, August 13th. If you sign up but later find out that you can't make it for whatever reason, please do your best to give me a head's up by Friday evening so I can tweak the pairings before the post goes up so people don't get stranded.

Thanks!

Please fill out the form below!

<b><u>Player Information</u></b> <b>Player Name:</b> <b>Contact Email:</b> <b>AIM (if applicable):</b> <b><u>Kid Information</u></b> <b>Full name of Kid(s):</b> <b>LJ handle of Kid(s):</b> <b>Age:</b> <b>Parent(s) of Character:</b>

Again, these are due by Thursday August 20th. Plot information is here. Please ask any questions at that post.

All Alumni and Ex-Pats are invited to a reunion at Disneyland from Saturday August 22 through Tuesday August 25.

It will be a chance for them to have happy fun times together and get in touch with their inner children.

... And since it's a Fandom event, they'll also get to meet their potential future/AU offspring.

Yes, we're having an Alumni/Ex-Pat AU Kids Weekend!

( Cut for Details )

The application post is here Any questions go in this post. Applications must be submitted by Thursday August 20th.

So we've all probably got a bit of an idea of what we want our characters to have been up to over in the AU. What we need now is to get hooked up with people who have similar plotting needs or just really dig an idea.

This is that post! Ask for help accomplishing something for your AU character. Volunteer to help others! The OCD's set up by what type of character you have/want so just ping in with what you're looking for/hoping for.

Original Info Post | Survivor Details | Vampire Guide

Yep, it's that time again -- getcher monthly open brainstorm session going here!

Please note: this is the GENERAL brainstorming post. Please don't use this for BDE brainstorming -- there will be a separate post going up for that purpose so keep an eye out for that one if you want to get your bitey AUverse brainstorming on. This post be for everything that isn't BDE-related.

Hello Fandom! The day after your prized possessions go back to being normal ... well, it's still going to be pretty darn weird, because next Monday (July 13) is Typos Come True Day.

It's like this: We all sometimes ping the wrong character into a scene (occasionally causing great trauma), type the wrong name entirely, randomly change character genders through misuse of pronouns, or use horrifically wrong icons. And sometimes we aren't all there and type something like "he poured ketchup onto his face" or "she was literally throwing shit at the walls," to quote two examples.

Thanks to random Fandom weirdness (I like to think the island is trying to tell us to type better), that's all going to happen for real. For example, in this thread, Jack *would* have randomly been there when I typed Jack's name, and would have stayed that way until we found an IC way to fix it -- typing Tyler's name properly would work. And if I made the typo I'm always terrified I might make someday and said "he touched her waste," well, he'd have a hand full of you-know-what. And if I accidentally use an animal icon ... guess what? My character is an animal for a couple of pings. And so on.

None of these typo-caused changes would last past the end of the scene or thread.

Real typos are usually funnier than the forced ones, but forced ones might make for good crack too.

OOC communication is love on this, especially if you're going to make something really weird happen.

Questions? Comments? Pie?

It's that time again omg.

In an effort to keep things a little more organized for plottishness and so on, we're going to ask a quick favor of you all.

Could you please reply to each appropriate comment below, and let us know what kind of powers/abilities/etc your character possesses? This is for all characters - students/alumni, teachers and townies - and covers everything including especially good researching/support skills, magic, skill with weaponry, mutations and so on. This is mandatory for all characters, and we would appreciate it ASAP though there is no specific deadline.

Anything that is a canon power or ability of your character and could be used in a plot in some way, please list below in the correct thread. Temporary powers for specific plots do not need to be noted now.

Please be as thorough as possible, as this will help everyone out with plots and knowing who can fill what roles.

Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to do this!

**Wait for the OCD omg or Chuck will get Nate to go out with you and then dump you two episodes later** OCD UP!

1 In this instance, "canon" does refer to FH canon as well. If your character at this time has honed their fighting skills or anything like that, please do make sure to note that. For guidelines on characters picking up abilities, please see this post.

2 For those of you who had characters around the last couple years and just want to C&P what you put in the post then, here are some shiny links for you.

This week's prompt is: eggs.

I make my own fun.

Suggestions!

So this coming weekend, July 11-12th, the island is going to be hit by what I like to call the Velveteen Rabbit effect.

The Velveteen Rabbit is a story told from the pov of stuffed animals and is all about how, if a child really really loves you, you become real. This is pretty much what's going to happen on the island this coming weekend -- any inanimate object that is loved and valued by the people of Fandom will become human.

ie. Dean loves his 1967 impala; this weekend, the impala will be a hot woman. (Since she's a hot car.) A jedi values their lightsaber, it could turn into a guy with electric blue hair. It could be anything really, as long as it is loved by someone -- a piece of clothing (ie Chuck's scarf),a piece of jewelry, a weapon, a technological device (I mean we all love our computers, right?), a book, a stuffed animal like in the original story. Anything that is not actually alive but that your character loves can be affected.

If you don't want your objects to turn human for a weekend, that's fine. The island is often capricious to what gets affected and what doesn't. Or maybe your character just doesn't love any object enough for it to change. It's all good.

Standard OOC communication expectation regarding any aggressive or ah, overly frisky actions will apply with the temporarily human objects just as they do with normal characters.

The change will happen sometime in the wee hours of Saturday morning and everything will change back late Sunday night.

Questions? Ideas for potential objects coming alive you want to see? Pie?

( Flamingo Croquet. Fun for the whole family. )

When the game has ended, the flamingos are going to realize just how lovely Fandom is, even if it does have some rather loud and stupid people in it. They will be taking up permanent residence in the duck pond. :)

Questions? Comments? Brine shrimp, for the flamingos?